A new technique for elucidating $\beta$-decay schemes which involve daughter nuclei with very low energy excited states

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel gamma-ray spectroscopy technique combining a BEGe detector with coaxial germanium detectors to elucidate complex beta-decay schemes involving low-energy excited states, demonstrated on 183Hg decay.

Contribution

The paper presents a new experimental method that enhances resolution and separation of gamma-ray signals in beta-decay studies involving low-energy states.

Findings

High energy resolution achieved with BEGe detector.

Successful separation of gamma rays from decay and daughter signals.

Effective elucidation of 183Hg decay scheme.

Abstract

A new technique of elucidating $\beta$-decay schemes of isotopes with large density of states at low excitation energies has been developed, in which a Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe) detector is used in conjunction with coaxial hyper-pure germanium detectors. The power of this technique has been demonstrated on the example of 183Hg decay. Mass-separated samples of 183Hg were produced by a deposition of the low-energy radioactive-ion beam delivered by the ISOLDE facility at CERN. The excellent energy resolution of the BEGe detector allowed $\gamma$ rays energies to be determined with a precision of a few tens of electronvolts, which was sufficient for the analysis of the Rydberg-Ritz combinations in the level scheme. The timestamped structure of the data was used for unambiguous separation of $\gamma$ rays arising from the decay of 183Hg from those due to the daughter decays.